Official excert-

Here at Zalindov, the only person you can trust is yourself.Seventeen-year-old Kiva Meridan has spent the last ten years fighting for survival in the notorious death prison, Zalindov, working as the prison healer.When the Rebel Queen is captured, Kiva is charged with keeping the terminally ill woman alive long enough for her to undergo the Trial by Ordeal: a series of elemental challenges against the torments of air, fire, water and earth, assigned to only the most dangerous of criminals.Then a coded message from Kiva’s family arrives, containing a single order: Don’t let her die. We are coming. Aware that the Trials will kill the sickly queen, Kiva risks her own life to volunteer in her place. If she succeeds, both she and the queen will be granted their freedom.But no one has ever survived.With an incurable plague sweeping Zalindov, a mysterious new inmate fighting for Kiva’s heart, and a prison rebellion brewing, Kiva can’t escape the terrible feeling that her trials have only just begun.

Short Summary- 3-5 minutes

Kiva is a healer in a horrible prison, she was imprisoned when her father was suspected of treason and she was taken with him. She has survived ten years and works as the healer and has to induct new inmates by carving them with a Z as a brand.  A new female guard named Nari is assigned to her and her assistant is a young boy named Tipp. A new inmate named Jaren comes and she shows him around but thinks he will probably be worked to death soon. She sometimes talks to the Warden who wants information on the rebels that are in the prison. Jaren comes back into the infirmary to get stitches taken out and he tries to be friendly. Tipp comes in and tell that there is a new prisoner who is the Rebel Queen, Tilda. Also that she will have to face 4 trials based on elements and if she survives, which no one ever has, then she will be free. Kiva tells Tipp and others the story of the kingdom, which was a king, with healing powers and queen elemental powers got married but the queen turned bitter and claims that the king attacked her which led to him being exiled. So the Rebel Queen is a descendant of him who is leading the rebel to take back her crown.  Sometimes she is smuggled in messages from the remaining family who want her to make sure that Tilda lives because they are coming, however Tilda is extremely sick. The leader of the rebels also threatens her to make sure Tilda lives. Tilda wakes and talks a little but is very weak.

The day of the first trial, Tilda is not well and Kiva is nervous but makes the decision to be her champion and do the trials for her. Everyone is confused and the royals who have come to watch, allow it. Kiva is shot into the air with the princess’s magic and must jump from one tower to another which is 30 feet away. Kiva runs and jumps but does not make it. She wakes up in the infirmary with the princess who claims the prince likes her so she was saved but injured. The princess secretly gives her an amulet that will absorb fire to help her for the next trial. She feels better but she has to deal with a stomach virus/disease that is spreading throughout the prison. She collects samples and tests them on rats Tipp has found.  

 Tilda wakes up for a bit and Kiva talks to her. She remembers that the disease was here a few years ago, and soon she hears that the rebels tried to break in but failed. She and Jaren become closer before she faces her next trial. The next trial is fire and she has to be stuck in the furnace for 10 minutes. The amulet helps but after a few minutes it starts to fade and while she doesn’t get burned she is hurt. Jaren and her become closer while she takes more samples. Tipp gets sick but then recovers. Some prisoners come and she gets another note that shows the name of a town which means the rebels will not be coming to get her. 

Right before the water trial, she finds out that another healer was giving out an immunity booster which has an ingredient that is a poison. She realizes that the disease is someone actually poisoning them. She tries to tell Nari but she is taken to her trial. She has to be submerged under water at the bottom of a lake for 15 minutes. She tries her best but blacks out, turns out Jaren has magical powers and has dived in to help her. He creates an air bubble for her and fire since she is cold. She is brought up and the Warden is mad someone interfered again and she is put in the punishment block along with Jaren. Jaren is whipped and Kiva is taken to a completely dark cell. Nari visits once and reveals that she went to the warden about the poison and that he already knew about it because it was a form of population control. Also she reveals that she is part of the royal family’s guard and it dawns on Kiva that Jaren is a prince. 

After two weeks in the dark cell, she is released because she has to complete her final trial where she is stuck deep in a tunnel. Jaren is forced to do it too and he tells her everything. He was not supposed to be in the prison but the other man was his guard and had broken his leg at the last moment. He wanted to be able to talk to Tilda but didn’t know how sick she was or that she would have to complete the trials. He stayed because of Kiva.  He also reveals that he has all the elemental powers which were rare and a secret, so they easily escape the tunnels. However when they get back, the prisoners have rioted because they realized they were poisoned on purpose. Kiva runs to get Tilda and Tipp and Jaren goes to find Nari. Kiva finds Tilda but she is dead and Tipp has a bad wound and is almost dead. Kiva then reveals that she has magical healing powers and heals Tipp. Jaren comes to get her and Tipp with Nari and they escape. As they leave to go to Vallenia, the palace,  Kiva sends out a message which says her mother is dead, she is going with the prince to Vallenia, and it was time to take back the kingdom because she is the rebel princess.

Long Summary- 20-25 minutes

The story is told by the main character Kiva in a fantasy world mainly in the setting in prison.

Prologue- Kiva is a young girl with her younger brother and father picking berries, when their mother screams for them to run. 

10 years later, Kiva is working in the prison and has to mark the new inmates with a Z. The new inmates are sent to her to be branded and prepared to be inmates. Life in prison is hard and no one survives.  She reveals when she came she was 7 years old and was assigned to easier labor than others. She became the healer after she helped a guard and the other healer was executed for smuggling drugs.  She is a worker and most inmates hate her and call her names. There is a female guard who is rare at the prison and she asks if she is done who takes the inmate to leave. She goes through the inmate’s old clothes and finds a note from her family which says they are safe. She explains that she randomly gets notes due to the stablemaster smuggling them in. 

There were 3 new arrivals during winter which was dangerous since it was extra cold. Two of them are dead, and the last one is dirty so she gets fresh water. She reveals that she was confronted by the male guards but the female one intervened. She thinks of how her father taught her healing and misses him. She wipes him down and notices he has a good physique so he will probably have hard labor. The female guard asks about her help, which is a young boy, Tipp, who has been sent to the kitchens, even though there is an outbreak of tunnel fever.  The female guard leaves. 

Tipp is happy to be back with Kiva and says Nari, the female guard, brought him. He gets the fresh water and Kiva recalls how he was clutching to his mother when she was arrested. She wipes down his face and Tipp notices how good he looks and he is probably a couple years older than her. She also notices he has scars on his back but then she has to brand him by scarring him with the Z mark. Tipp and Nari hold him down and then she seals his other cuts. 

The inmate wakes up and is confused and Kiva tells him he is in the prison. He settles down and then vomits. She has to finish the stitches and offers poppy milk which is a pain medication, to which he refuses. She wonders about it since he is in a lot of pain and she offers non-drug herbs.  His treatment is finished and is given clothes but Nari makes Kiva his orientation leader. She tells Tipp to call Mot to collect the dead men for cremation but rather not, so Kiva agrees and makes him check on the quarantined patients from the tunnel fever. She takes him to his orientation and he asks her her name and she just replies prison healer and he tells her his name is Jaren. She takes him to the morgue first.

She tells Mot, the head mortician, that there are two bodies at the clinic for collection. Kiva reveals that Mot became an inmate since he would try new remedies that resulted in more deaths.  He confirms the job, saying her name in front of Jaren, and tells her that Tipp played a trick on Mot. They continue on their orientation and he already knows the prison’s reputation of hardly anyone making it out. He also asks her if she is a murderer or a rebel and she tells him never to ask anyone that. Then she shows him the crematoriums, and she then describes the prison and tells him where everything is. He asks about the tunnels and she informs her, it is a maze down there and it is the source of their water. She tells him he will receive his work allocation the next day and that he should have something to live for, it helps to survive. He asks about another building, to which she replies is the Abyss, which is where they go to be punished. She sends him to his block and then leaves. 

She speaks to the Warden and confirms that only one of the arrivals survived. He then asks about the rebels which Kiva confirms that Cresta is still probably the leader.  Warden is upset that she is not sure and she replies that they don’t like her. Kiva reveals the rebels inside and outside the prison claim they have a queen that has a legitimate claim to the throne. The Warden threatens her position as the healer if she can not find out any more information about the rebels.

Jaren was sent to the tunnels for work and Kiva knows that most tunnelers do not live long. A few days pass and Jaren shows up at the clinic to get his stitches out. He has blisters and calluses and Kiva warns him to keep them clean but they know that’s impossible. He takes off his shirt and she takes out his stitches. She asks about his other scars and he answers that someone did it to him. She then takes out the head one and asks if he has had any issues. He replies not too bad and that he had concussions before. They make small talk about his family and she gives him a salve for his hands. Jaren talks to her again but they are interrupted by Tipp coming in telling her there is a surprise new woman arrival. The guard bringing in the woman says Kiva has to fix her up so that the woman can face the Trial of the Ordeal. Tipp is curious and Kiva explains that is a way to test a person’s guilt by doing four trials based on the elements. If they survive they are free but no one has ever survived. Nari then reveals that she is the Rebel Queen,Tilda. Kiva is shocked but Nari explains that the Royal Family want to make an example out of her.Tipp then sees a paper with some doodle and Kiva takes it knowing it is a message.  It said to not let her die and that they were coming, but Kiva did not know how to help.

A few days later, Tilda is not getting any better. While Kiva is checking her, she opens her eyes, Tilda is confused and attacks Kiva. Nari pulls her away and then Tilda attacks Nari and stabs her in the wrist.  Nari doesn’t bleed and elbows Tilda in the face and goes out cold. They put shackles on her and Nari explains that she has a prosthetic hand. She explained that it happened when she was protecting someone she cared about.  Mot, Tipp and Jaren come into the clinic. They come to tell Kiva that part of the Royal Family is coming to see the first trial so it is pushed back a few days. Tipp is curious about the story and Kiva is reluctant but tells. There were two people Torvin who was a healer and Sarana could control the four elements. They were married and unstoppable. Sarana became resentful and did not want to share and attacked Torvin. She lied to the people and said Torvin attacked her and they believed her.  Torvin fled and has not been heard of since, so the rebels formed and the Rebel Queen is the descendant of Torvin. So the Royal Family is threatened by the idea of what she represents. Jaren said that people outside the royal bloodline have shown magical abilities but it is very rare.  Tipp and Mot take an inmate who has died and Jaren asks Kiva why she would help a rebel when she is the reason there is so much unrest. Kiva gets angry and argues that it is her job no matter what that person did. 

Kiva goes back to her cell block and goes to shower when she is dragged out by Cresta the rebel leader in the prison. She threatens to kill Tipp if the Rebel Queen dies and mentions a possible rescue. Kiva goes to the Warden to tell him and wants Tipp to leave but he can’t since he has no guardian to take him. Warden tells her he does not care about what happens but she needs to stay alive since the Royal Family is coming and threatens Kiva as well.

A few days later, Tilda is awake and asks for water. Kiva tells her she is in prison and that she is sick. But Tilda is wondering why they should keep her alive if she is supposed to die in the Trial. Kiva urges her to rest and Tilda does not speak again. The day of the Trial of Air has arrived and Kiva is worried about everything.  Tilda is awake but not coherent, and Nari says they have to go and all the prisoners would be watching. Kiva and Tipp help her walk to the quad. There they see the royals, who are wearing masks, and the warden. She is worried about what to do and makes a decision. She calls Jaren over to take her place as she claims to take the trial. 

The royal captain asks her to explain, to which she says she is the champion for Tilda and understands if she fails to pass, then she dies. Kiva thinks that if she can pass the first trial then maybe her family or the rebels will have enough to rescue them. The princess asks why, to which Kiva answers that Tilda is sick and they came for a show.  Kiva is suddenly flung into the air and she is on top of one of the watchtowers. The trial to jump to the other tower which is 30 feet away. She panics and the captain tells her she can jump or be pushed. She backs up as much as she can and runs to jump off. She comes close but falls short and falls to the ground. 

Kiva recalls when her father was arrested, his crime was that he was spotted with a known rebel and was arrested for treason.  He denies it and resists being taken, the soldiers grab their swords and her younger brother gets a blade and tries to attack one of them. He is killed and Kiva and her father are taken away sobbing. Kiva wakes up in the clinic and the princess is there. The princess gives her some poppy milk and Kiva is curious to know why she isn’t dead. The princess explains that Kiva reminds her of her girlfriend and her brother actually saved her. She calls her brother an idiot that was swayed by a pretty face to save her. Warden was mad that they interrupted and they were discouraged from going to the next trials. Kiva is still curious why the princess is still there and the princess gives her an amulet. The princess explains that she has air powers as well as fire.  She does not know what the Trial by Fire is but the amulet can absorb fire and can protect her. Kiva asks why she is helping and the princess replies, she owes her brother but also she is rooting for the underdog. The prince comes and asks Kiva how she is doing, calling her gorgeous. She thanks him and he bickers a bit with his sister before they leave.

 When she wakes later Jaren is there and wants to know why she would basically sacrifice her life for her. Tipp comes in and asks the same thing, she replies that she can survive the other trials. She explains that Tilda is ill and needs her help, and represents to Kiva all the people she failed to save over the years. Jaren gives her some poppy milk and she goes to sleep. She wakes up with Warden standing over her, he yells at her for doing it and she explains that they would have killed Tipp and wants him to leave with her if she survives. Warden says that she has survived ten years because her father once saved his life, Kiva realizes nothing truly bad has happened to her. 

It takes Kiva four days to walk around and stops drinking poppy milk after the second day where she called Jaren’s eyes pretty. Kiva worries about the next trial and whether or not she will be rescued before or if she can survive it. Until the trial, she helps the inmates deal with a virus that she thought was tunnel fever but is something else that is killing them too. Kiva is frustrated with it since none of the guards are getting sick but a “favored” inmate, Rayla, got sick. Rayla was in close contact with the guards and not with other inmates, so Kiva does not understand how the disease is spreading. Kiva plans on testing and doing experiments by taking samples of areas and Nari will ask the Warden to accompany her. Kiva thinks that maybe Nari and Jaren are intimate but Nari quickly shuts that down. Nari is curious why she doesn’t go after Jaren on her own and Kiva dismisses the idea. 

Nari takes her out to the quarry where Kiva will get samples. On the way, it rains and Nari gives her a poncho for warmth.  As they reach one of the gates, Warden comes to talk to Nari and Kiva notices Raz discreetly. He is a worker, who sends the messages because her father once saved his wife and child’s life. She has only sent two out since it is hard to get to him. He quickly gives her a note. The note says the same, to keep her alive, and they are coming. Kiva is frustrated and writes a message and begs Raz to send it. Nari comes back and they continue on. 

Nari asks about Kiva talking to the princess and Kiva partly recaps the conservation. Nari mentions how the prince saved her and many girls dream of marrying a prince and  Kiva disagrees. They make it to the quarry and quickly speak to a guard. They go inside and start walking and take some samples. While she is working, Cresta insults her. Nari asks about it and Kiva reveals Cresta hates for doing her job and for Kiva healing her when she wanted to die. 

Tipp has captured some rats for them to use as test subjects and Kiva sets up the experiments. Jaren comes in but has bruises on his face. After some relenting and a deal of exchanging questions, Jaren tells her that Cresta was talking about Kiva and defended her honor. Kiva calls him a fool for picking a fight with the prison rebels and Jaren is surprised and didn’t know that was them. He apologizes for fighting her battles and says he wants to fight beside her. 

Kiva was intended to get more samples but Tilda stopped breathing. Kiva resuscitates her but is worried that she will not survive for long. She doesn’t leave her alone and Mot, who used to work at an apothecary, gives her an elixir. Tipp comes in and says another inmate died and so many have died they have opened the second furnace.  Mot asks if she is ready for the trial and he gives her some ointments to help. Later Kiva talks to Tild and tells her a story of how her parents met. Her father was an apprentice healer and was pickpocketed and fell in love with her mother. They weren’t able to be together long but they were grateful for the time they spent together, which gives Kiva motivation to keep fighting.

Kiva goes to the medicinal garden and thinks about her father. He was the prison healer when they first arrived and Kiva remembered the disease had happened before and had eventually killed her father, nine years ago. She goes to get food and overhears other prisoners gossip and talk about her, the disease and the Rebel Queen. One prisoner says that a group of rebels tried to break in but failed. Kiva gets worried that they won’t be coming for her and she leaves. A guard stops her and wants her to check out a prisoner. She goes into the guard section where the guards are having a “party with female prisoners undressed drunk on alcohol and high on drugs. The guard wants Kiva to wake a girl so he can go another round but she is dead, overdosed on drugs. Nari comes in and tells Kiva she is needed but the guard wants to have some “fun” first. Nari says the warden is waiting and the guard lets her leave. Nari had lied and Kiva went to bed thinking about her life and the things the other prisoners had said. Jaren comes to visit and comforts her as she cries.

They wake up together and Kiva is worried he will be caught since he is in the wrong cell block. She calms down and Jaren tries to make her feel confident about her Trial that day. Nari comes and makes sure Jaren goes back before he is caught, and asks Kiva if she is ready. Kiva has hope about the rebels and surviving but asks Nari why she didn’t punish Jaren for being in the wrong place. Nari explains the prisoners are punished enough and his own guards should have caught him. She thanks Nari for not being like the rest of the guards and  another guard comes to take her to the trial, to the crematorium.  

She is taken to the crematorium and she feels sick at the thought. Warden escorts her in and Nari whispers some words of encouragement. Warden explains the fire can burn bodies in a few hours but takes minutes to burn skin, and she has to stay in for 10 minutes. They close the door and Kiva cries for them to come back which goes unheard and the flames start. 

Kiva screams and in seconds she is surrounded by fire. The flames are touching her but she doesn’t feel it because the amulet is glowing. She counted the minutes in her head but by six minutes the amulet started flickering. At seven minutes her clothes started to catch fire. She starts coughing, and soon she could feel the ointments melting off her. At last the flames die and the door is opened. Nari tries to comfort her and Warden sees the amulet and is mad. Nari gives her a cloak and helps her up and helps her walk out. Warden declares to everyone that she passed and tells her that if anyone interferes with the third task, there will be trouble. Kiva tells him it was the princess but he reveals she has little fire power and the prince’s main element is fire. She is surprised why the prince would save her twice. Warden says he is relieved she survived, especially with the disease spreading. She walks away and her legs give out, Jaren runs and lifts and carries her. In the infirmary, Jaren gets her the supplies she needs. Jaren spreads some gel onto her and asks about some scars on her thighs. At first she says it’s nothing but then reveals when she first started carving the Z on the new prisoners, she felt she needed to atone, so she would carve herself too. It became an addiction and she slowly learned to stop. Jaren feels thankful for sharing and gives her a forehead kiss. He promises to keep an eye on the patients so she can rest. 

Kiva stays in bed for two days and is eager to keep working. She has a lot of places to test to catch up and Nari is curious what she will do if she can’t figure it out. Kiva responds that they will die but she is confident she can figure it out. When she comes back, she notices Tipp is missing and Jaren comes in and they find him but he is sick. She takes care of him but panics and runs out to the garden when Jaren follows. She cries and she ends up telling him about how she lost her brother and being arrested and her father dying. She goes back and stays with Tipp and doesn’t leave him unless to check on other patients.  The next morning, Kiva checks up on Tipp and notices he does not have a rash which the other infected had. She remembers how her father said children bounce back faster than adults and Tipp recovers a few hours later. 

A few days later and a day before a trial, Tipp encourages Kiva to go out for more samples since he is doing better. She hugs him and leaves him with Olisha, the other prison healer.  She is on her way to test more samples, Cresta intercepts her and is angry that her friends are sick and accuses her of not doing anything. Cresta accuses one of the guards of stealing food and Nari goes with Cresta to get the guard. Kiva asks her about the rebels and Cresta says they need to wait. Nari and Kiva think that the next trial will be down in the tunnels, in the aquifer. As she is taking samples, the fellow prison healer comes and tells Kiva that Tilda is awake and lucid.

They get back and Tilda asks about the trials, and asks Kiva why. Kiva just tries to explain she is trying her best to help her feel better. Tilda wants to hear the story of how her parents met again and she tells the story with Tipp. Later Tipp talks to Kiva about how much Kiva cares for Tilda and says Tilda reminds her of his own mother. She feels sad about leaving her new friends behind if the trials go well. Mot gives her a potion to help with exhaustion. The next day she was supposed to take more samples but new prisoners arrived. She does her job and a paper falls out, she discreetly reads it and it says the name of a town. She realizes they aren’t coming and she realizes that it was impossible. Soon the other prison healer comes in and says she has an immunity booster that she and the other night time healer gives out. Kiva realizes that one of the ingredients is an immunity booster but the other ingredient was a poison. Kiva asks where she gets it and the girl says she gets it from the male healer who gets it from someone else.  A guard comes to get Kiva for the trial but it is not Nari. Nari catches up and Kiva manages to sneak a message that it is poison but nothing more before she is taken to an abandoned quarry that was flooded. 

Warden explains that she will be submerged for 15 minutes and if she survives that she will have passed. She panics because she thought she had to swim not be submerged. She is dropped to the bottom of the quarry where the water is extra cold. She has no way to determine time and her body starts wanting air and she starts to choke and passes out. 

Jaren is there and they are both at the bottom of the quarry still. A pocket of air surrounds them and Jaren says he can explain but that he needs her to get warm. Jaren then produces flames and Kiva thinks that the princess gave him an amulet but he denies it and Kiva realizes he has magic. Jaren explains he will tell her everything later but she can’t tell anyone what happened but Nari knows. He leaves and Kiva is pulled back to the surface. Warden is angry and Kiva claims she made Jaren help her. Warden is mad and she is hit on the back of her head.

When she wakes she realizes that she is in a cell in the punishment block, a guard comes to get her to take her to another room. They make her watch as they whip Jaren as she screams for them to stop. Warden wanted her to punish her but watching him get whipped but not whipped herself. The guard takes her to another cell which is in complete darkness.

She starts to go crazy as she can not tell time or even if she is alive or not, the only light she has gotten was from the brief seconds of food delivery six times. She thinks about everything, if Jaren is okay, about his magic, about Tilda and Tipp, and if Nari discovered who is poisoning everyone. The door is cracked open and Nari is there. Kiva is concerned for Jaren since he had been whipped weeks ago and Nari tells her she has only been there six days. Nari reports that Jaren is healing and that Tipp is watching over Tilda. Kiva asks about the poisoning and they realize that it was the Warden poisoning prisoners because more new ones are coming for population control. Also other prisoners overheard that they were being poisoned and they were angry and riots might happen soon. Nari sent word to the royal family and Kiva asked why they would listen to a simple prison guard. Nari seems confused and asks if Jaren told her and Kiva realizes that Jaren is actually the prince and is in disbelief. Nari can’t explain why Jaren is doing this and reveals she is his Royal Shield. She explains he wasn’t supposed to go into the prison but another royal guard broke his leg at the last minute and Jaren stepped in.  Kiva is mad but Nari urges her to let Jaren explain, she has to leave but informs Kiva she has to stay there until the last trial which is in another eight more days. 

The guard takes her to the next trial, and informs her if she survives that she and the Rebel Queen are free. Since Jaren helped her, he will also have to perform the trial. Nari looks furious but Jaren shakes his head so she stays still. Kiva then gets hit in the head and wakes up in the dark. She crawls and finds Jaren who then creates some flames. They realize they are in the tunnels. Kiva gets mad that Jaren never told her about being the prince and he claims he was going in before Tipp got sick. He then explains he came to the prison to get information about the rebels. Tilda was arrested in a different kingdom and that kingdom wouldn’t allow Jaren’s family to talk to her so he thought he could talk to her in the prison.  He didn’t realize Tilda was sick or sentenced to the trials but stayed to see if he could find out more information about the rebels. Kiva calls him a fool for not leaving sooner and he says his sister said the same thing. His sister and cousin knew a little about the plan and he had Nari tell his cousin to come to pretend to be him for the trial. Kiva asks why Jaren saved her in all the trials and he responds that she is a good person that didn’t deserve to die. They start to get moving and she notices Jaren is having trouble walking so she inspects him. He probably has a couple broken ribs but should be fine.  She inspects his back for the lashes and they are healing but sore. She then asks the scars she previously saw, Jaren is resistant but eventually says that his mother, the queen, did it, who sometimes loses control when taking drugs. Kiva calls him brave and incredible for dealing with it all. Kiva is unsure how to act now or what to call him and he reveals that Jaren is his middle name that friends and family call him.  He also reveals that his sister is the older one but he will inherit the crown because he has all the four elemental magic which was a secret to the general public. So Jaren can easily find their way out within an hour, then Kiva and the Rebel Queen would be free. She suggests he take her to the royal healers who can help her then he could talk to her. He entertains the idea and before Kiva asks, Jaren also agrees to take Tipp out as well. He offers to take her and Tipp to the palace and she could go to the healer academy. They finally reach the end but no one is there and there is screaming in the distance.

 There is a riot going on everywhere, a Kiva runs for Tipp and Tilda. There is an explosion that blows Kiva back and Mot had exploded one of the towers. She struggles to get up and she sees Cresta fighting, and other guards killing others. She gets to the infirmary and Tilda is dead. Tipp is gravely injured and he coughs up blood as he tells Kiva he loves her and tried to protect TIlda. She reminisces as her brother died and her first night in prison, her dad had a bleeding hand and he tells her not to do “it” again, he makes her promise and she agrees. She holds her hands over Tipp, concentrates and golden light pours out her hands and Tipp is alive again. 

Jaren shows up with Nari and they take Tipp. Kiva lies and claims Tipp only had a small cut but it was all Tilda’s blood.   Nari leads them out but is stopped by the Warden. Mot shows up and threatens him to let Kiva and others go. Guards rush Mot but he throws his vial and flames shoot out everywhere. They are out and see a carriage, but Raz the stablehand is there. Nari quickly subdues him. Kiva tells her he is a friend and lets him up, Kiva quickly writes a message for him to send. They leave and they are out and officially free. She tells Jaren that she wrote a message to her family that she was going to Vallenia. Actually the message said that “mother was dead, she is going to Vallenia, and it was time to reclaim the throne. It is revealed that Tilda was her mother and Kiva is the Rebel Princess.

My Review- 4 out of 5 stars

I enjoyed this story. I really particulary like books with trials in them. it is obvious that the main character will survive, but I like to see how the character will develop each time. Kiva’s character has survived a great deal and the introduction of Jaren into her life is a bit goodness that she does not think she deserves. The twist of Jaren being the prince was not too surprising, since the princess mentioned the prince having a crush. Kiva having powers was also not that surprising since that it was mentioned earlier of the royal having powers, which therefore made her the princess. I actually thought maybe Tilda was not the real queen but a fake. I did not expect it to be her mother. Overall it was a good story, I am interested in the rest, but my TBR is really long, so maybe after a while I will get around to it.